Forget The Myth!

Forget the myth of rodeos as all-American sport. Modern rodeos are cruel and deadly for animals. Traditional ranch work has been perverted into a spectacle of animal abuse disguised as "western tradition." Today's rodeos bear little resemblance to ranch work where care was taken to not injure animals. Modern rodeos are nothing more than western-themed circuses with contestants wearing John Wayne costumes and racing against the clock in a cruel spectacle for cash prizes all to sell sugar water, alcohol, and automobiles to the fans. And it's the animals who pay the price, from being electrically prodded to make horses and bulls appear wild to the countless injuries animals suffer from contestants who only care about beating the clock and winning cash before moving on to the next rodeo in the next city.

Anyone with a heart knows it's wrong to clothesline a baby animal, body slam it to the ground, tie its legs so it can’t move, and drag it by the neck. If this were done to a puppy or kitten, the offender would understandably be charged with a crime, and likely be jailed. In rodeos, however, it's called calf roping, and supporters claim it’s a sport. But the abuse of baby cows is just one of rodeo’s cruelties. Read further and watch some of SHARK's video proof from years of rodeo investigations.

Rodeo associations claim very few animals are injured and killed in rodeos. That is a lie. In fact, rodeo associations do not disclose animal injuries and deaths. Furthermore, those who do commit humane violations are granted complete anonymity. Can you imagine if the NFL kept penalties secret? Rodeo is a joke of a sport. Learn the cruel truth about the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), the world's largest rodeo association, on which other rodeo associations are modeled.

Rodeo also brings out the lowest of the low when it comes to corporations. Rodeo survives on the sponsorship money of corporations who want to make a profit at any cost to animals. Companies like Wrangler, Coca-Cola, Dodge, Jack Daniels, and others are willing to fund rodeo animal abusers, ignore the enormous amount of evidence of the cruelty, and all the while claim to adhere to the "highest corporate ethics". In return, rodeo announcers do a job of brown-nosing and sucking up to the careless corporations that is frankly embarrassing. Caring people will want to go to CorporateThugs.com to identify and avoid these careless corporate profiteers.

It isn't just corporations who give welfare handouts to rodeo animal abusers. When it comes to government money, the Rodeo Mafia become Welfare Cowboys. Go to RodeoWelfare.com to see the outrageous use of tax dollars.

When it comes to rodeo, there are two types of media. Reporters who are lazy, careless, or whose integrity is for sale, write glowing stories of the rodeo. The more you ignore the facts, the better the rewards you may receive from the rodeo industry. Go to MediaVillains.com to learn about these Yellow Journalists.

Fortunately, there are also reporters who still believe in writing the truth and in journalistic ethics. Go to ReportersWhoCare.com to see what REAL journalists have to say about the Rodeo Mafia.

Horse lovers should also see HorseKillers.com to learn about the Rodeo Mafia's determined efforts to see horse slaughter brought back to America so they can make even more money off their broken equine victims, no matter what the cost in suffering and terror.

Rodeo AssociationsThese guys specialize in propaganda and so-called humane rules that are never enforced. More...

Rodeo Stock ContractorsGo to any rodeo, even the smallest and most insignificant, and you will hear that it has the world's "meanest & wildest" animals, and the "greatest cowboys". Rodeo stock contractors claim their animals are "born to buck." According to the announcer at even the sorriest, most silly affair, it is a "world championship rodeo." The truth isn't nearly as impressive. More...

Rodeo Videos Yanked from YouTube are Reinstated

SHARK has some hard-hitting video exposing the cruelty of professional rodeo on YouTube. In response to a false copyright claim by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), YouTube pulled down nearly 40 videos on December 13, 2007 that SHARK had created from our investigative footage. Thanks to help from EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) we were able to defend our rights and the rights of ALL activists to use YouTube. You can read all about it here and see the court documents on EFF's website.

Although we have had rodeo videos posted on our site for years, SHARK's footage of animal abuse, injuries, and deaths at PRCA rodeos was getting more widespread attention on YouTube than ever before. The rodeo industry can't withstand that kind of honest attention, and they know it. The PRCA doesn't want you or their sponsors to be able to see what really happens at their rodeos.

SHARK has successfully fought back and all our videos are again available worldwide. See what the PRCA is so scared of on SHARK's YouTube Channel.